1. The Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed generally to a process for durably engraving earthenware. More specifically, the present invention is directed to a process for durably engraving earthenware using flexible templates generated from laser etched molds on flat, curved or irregular surfaces.
2. Background Art
U.S. Pat. No. 4,668,521 to Newsteder (hereinafter Newsteder) discloses a process for transferring a halftone image into a castable material, particularly chocolate. The halftone is rendered as a textured surface where the “inked” dots of the halftone are indents in the surface of the chocolate. The image is “developed” by rubbing a contrasting colored powder, such as white confectioner's sugar, into the texture of the cast chocolate, thus filling the indents with color and making the halftone image visible.
The present disclosure extends the imaging options from just halftones to any images, art or text which can be rendered digitally from a digital image, either captured or scanned using extensive digital image manipulation tools available.
Conventional earthenware decorations currently include imprinting a pre-fired or unsintered earthenware with crude images and manual engraving of flat or curved surfaces and the like. Conventional imprinting processes produce crude “stamps” which lack depths and details typically associated with photographic images. Conventional engraving processes typical involve carving lines only onto prepared but unsintered earthenware surface. As manual depth creation is skill intensive, time consuming and therefore costly and may cause earthenware to partially harden or dry before carving work is complete, jeopardizing the workability of the earthenware materials.
Thus, there arises a need for an economical and expedient means for engraving earthenware with details and depths not previously available.